Boot or shoe cleaner.



No. 7ll,l94. g Patentad Oct; l4, l902.

B. E. BENGTSON &. A. A. GUSTAFSON.

BOOT 0R SHOE CLEANER.

(Application filed Oct. 19, 1901..

(lo Model.)

I wanna: vnzns 00.. PHOTQLITNOHIWASHKNDYON n c UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BERNDT E. BENGTSON, OF AXTELL, AND AXEL A. GUSTAFSON, OF DIVIDE TONVNSHIP, NEBRASKA.

BOOT OR SHOE CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 711,194, dated October 14, 1902.

Application filed October 12, 1901. Serial No. 78,508. (No model.

To all] whom it may concern: strips, and thus permitting them to be made Be it known that we,BERNDT E. BENGTSON, of much light-er material than if the strips residing at Axtell, in the county of Kearney, were made with a straight edge. By referand AXEL A. GUSTAFSON, residing in Divide ence to Fig. of the drawings it will be seen 5 township, in the county of Phelps, State of that the edges are bent in opposite directions Nebraska, citizens of the United States, have and also that the ends of the bent portions are invented a new and useful Boot or Shoe cut out for a slight distance from the extreme Cleaner, of which the following is a specificaend,as indicated by the reference-numeral a tion. .7 the purpose of said cut-out portion being to IO This invention is an improvement in boot reduce the thickness of the scrapers where and shoe cleaning devices, and has for its 010- they enter the slots, and thus afford the said ject to provide a portable device for scraping scrapers an even bearing in the slots throughand cleaning the soles of a shoe or boot and out their entire width. It will also be noted also for cleaning the sides thereof. by reference to Fig. 5 that the central portion I 5 WVith this object in view our invention com-- of the scrapers is arranged upon a compound prises a frame in which is fixedly held a securve, with the ends flattened so that they ries of strips or scrapers by which hard subwill snugly fit the slots, as before stated, the stances may be readily removed from the botobject of forming this curve being to further tom of a shoe, the ends of the frame carrystrengthen the strips, and by reason of the 2o ing suitable brushes by which the sides of the bent portions or the material scraped from the shoe may be cleaned; and with the above obshoe will not stick to the scrapers, but will jects in view our invention further consists readily drop from the edges thereof to the in certain details of construction and novel ground, it being understood that in placing a combination and arrangement of parts,as will scraper in position to be used the upper fold- 25 be fully described in the followingspecifioaed edges a are arranged upon the outer side, tion and pointed out in the claims, reference so that in drawing the shoe across the scrapers being had to the drawings, in which the material will be left upon the said bent- Figure l is a perspective view of our imover portion, from which it will readily drop proved boot and shoe cleaner. Fig. 2 is a simionto the ground.

3o lar View showinga slightly-different arrange- Suitable brushes B are secured to the end ment of the brushes. Fig. 3 is a perspective strips A, the backs (1 thereof being preferview illustrating still a difierent arrangement ably arranged against the outer sides of the of the brushes. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective strips A, as shown in Fig. 1; but they may view illustrating a modified arrangement of be arranged upon the upper edges of the end 35 supporting the scraping-strips to the frame. strips with the bristles projecting inwardly, Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View showing the as shown in Fig. 2, or both brushes may be preferred arrangement of supporting the supported upon one of-the end strips A with scrapers. Fig. 6 is a detail viewv illustrating the bristles projecting in opposite directions, the modified arrangement of the brushes. as indicated in Fig. 3. In all of the construco 40 In carrying out our invention we employ a tions described the brushes are utilized for the frame A, comprising the end strips A and the same purpose-that is, to remove any foreign metallic side strips 0. The said end strips are matter that may be accumulated upon the preferably made of wood and have a series of sides of a shoe. If desired, the end strips A vertically -arranged slots 1) produced upon. mayhave thebristles of the brushes formed 45 their inner faces and in which are held the thereon and the said brushes be utilized to ends of the metallic scrapers a, the upper and form the end strips, as shown in Fig. 6. We lower edges of the said scrapers being preferalso find it desirable to bend the ends of the ably bent or folded over upon the body porscrapers at a right angle to the body portion, tion, which eliminate sharp edges upon the as indicated at f in Fig. 4, and to secure the 50 strips, and thereby causing little injury to the said bent portions to the inner faces of the shoe and at the same time strengthening the end strips A, as will be clearly understood,

and by this arrangement the necessity of producing the slots in the end strips is avoided. It will also be noted that the scraping-strips are arranged parallel to the sides of the frame and that the brushes are arranged at right angles to the said strips across the ends of the frame, so that in scraping a shoe one may stand in one position in order to clean the sole and heel and also the sides of his shoes.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that We provide an exceedingly cheap, durable, and highly-efficient device for scraping and cleaning boots or shoes that will be found particularly useful in districts where the walks and crossings are not paved.

Having thus fully described our invention, What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the kind described, the combination of a frame, scrapers held therein, and having their upper and lower edges bent or folded upon the body portion, and brushes carried by the frame, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a device of the kind described, the combination of a frame, scrapers held therein and having their upper and lower edges bent or folded upon the body portion, said bent or folded ends being turned in opposite directions, and brushes carried upon the exterior of the frame, substantially as shown and described.

3. Ascraper or strip forashoe-cleanerof the kind described, comprising the body portion having its upper and lower edges bent or folded over in opposite directions, the said body portion being curved or crimped throughout its longitudinal length, the extreme ends of said strips being flattened, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BERNDT E. BENGSTON. AXEL A. GUSTAFSON.

\Vitnesses:

S. C. STEWART, WM. A. BERKMAN. 

